After a profitable outing in Las Vegas, Riot Video games has introduced plans to host its second TFT Open in Macau this December 13-15.
The TFT Macau Open is a celebration of the Teamfight Techniques neighborhood centered on a large 512-player open bracket match. Skilled gamers will compete alongside high ranked amateurs for his or her lower of the $300,000 prize pool, the Tactician’s Belt and the Macao Open title.
In contrast to different tournaments within the Teamfight Techniques esports calendar, the TFT Open prioritizes storytelling and accessibility over pure aggressive rigor. The place the Tactician’s Trials (regional) and Tactician’s Crown (worldwide) function capstones to a aggressive season, the TFT Open kicks off Riot’s esports occasions for the subsequent season. Because of this, gamers are nonetheless experimenting with the brand new models, gadgets and mechanics, creating extra alternatives for underdog upsets.
“The whole lot from once we timed the occasion to how we introduced folks in and certified folks and the way we did issues like costreaming are all a part of how we construct this occasion expertise that seems like it could actually assist broaden out the curiosity of esports to the TFT viewers as an entire,” mentioned Michael Sherman, international head of esports for Teamfight Techniques and 2XKO, in an interview with GamesBeat.
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Returning to convention-style esports
TFT Open format goals to create a broader convention-style occasion with the 512-player predominant match the anchor the occasion. Opponents and attendees ought to count on developer panels, meet and greets, cosplay and extra in Macau.
The corporate first experimented with the TFT Open in Las Vegas in December 2023. Whereas Riot has invested in its spectator experiences for each League of Legends’ and Valorant’s Fan Fests, the TFT Vegas Open was its first open bracket match in over a decade.
The occasion was a significant success. The 512 Competitor’s Bundles bought out in seven seconds and an extra 1,000-plus spectators attended the occasion.
“The reception from the neighborhood proved that you just didn’t must have this hyper-competitive match format — like a whole lot of the suggestions we’ve been getting — to nonetheless have an occasion that everyone mentioned was their most enjoyable occasion of all time,” mentioned Sherman. “Loads of our firm management was on the Vegas Open and it was good to see esports in a brand new gentle in one among Riot’s video games… I believe it’s an ideal platform for difficult conventions.”
Whereas he doesn’t see the esports business turning to those occasions typically, Sherman believes esports is “discovering new fruit” in these convention-style occasions. “I believe the reason being as a result of put publishers particularly are investing in what gamers love concerning the sport as an entire, not simply the esports element.”
For its subsequent outing, Riot chosen Macau — the world’s largest playing hub — as the subsequent vacation spot for the format it piloted in Las Vegas. Like its American counterpart, Macau is a perfect tourism and journey hub for a world occasion.
“Macau is such an effective way for us to carry this expertise to Asia with out alienating gamers from all around the world,” mentioned Sherman.
Learnings from Vegas
Sherman sees TFT itself and its followers as a significant purpose why this convention-style format labored. Teamfight Techniques is probably the most performed PC technique sport on the earth, however isn’t acknowledged as such. Along with its extensive enchantment inside the League of Legends neighborhood, high gamers from different aggressive titles like Tremendous Smash Bros. and Pokémon attended the TFT Open.
“Constructing on the occasion expertise is extremely necessary. It’s just a little completely different for TFT as a result of it’s such a broader participant pool and we don’t have the identical relationship we do with them like in League or Valorant,” mentioned Sherman.
The TFT Vegas Open additionally helped Riot perceive and overcome the hurdles of operating such a large occasion. These included bodily challenges like assembling 512 setups (somewhat than its customary 10 plus follow rooms) or taking photos of each competitor for the printed and all kinds of technical points.
“I’m going to tug again the curtain just a little bit, however on the Vegas open, we have been nonetheless attempting to get each PC within the sport midnight earlier than occasion began. We uncovered so many layers of DDoS safety we don’t often want to fret about with [LoL] Worlds or [Valorant] Champs” mentioned Sherman.
“TFT uniquely will get a ton of advantages as a result of it’s constructed into the League shopper as effectively. So there’s an entire host of providers that have been constructed for League of Legends that simply occurred to additionally work for TFT… we have been in a position to repurpose a number of the expertise from champions queue to get everybody within the sport as quick as potential.”
In the end, these Champions Queue instruments helped the staff resolve technical challenges that vary from including customized lobbies to TFT and permitting spectators to affix mid-match to a buddy’s record cap round 315 for a 512-player occasion.
Iterating and experimenting
Since internet hosting the TFT Vegas Open, Riot has mirrored on why the occasion labored and the way it plans to construct on that success.
For the TFT Macau Open, Riot is placing extra emphasis on the at-home expertise. Particularly, the developer plans to create extra content material to assist these in-person experiences transcend on-line. Sherman particularly cited how cosplay content material from the TFT Vegas Open drove engagement.
Moreover, Riot plans to place extra emphasis on tying the TFT Macau Open to the launch of Set 13. New units already encourage gamers to return to TFT and Macau provides Riot extra instruments to increase the patch’s freshness.
Past the open bracket occasions, Riot is taking the chance to experiment in esports by means of Teamfight Techniques in different methods.
Whereas followers ought to be excited for Macau, TFT’s subsequent main match is on the world stage on the Esports World Cup. In a primary for the sport’s aggressive historical past, gamers will compete as groups of 4. This fits the EWC’s team-focused construction and has the benefit of feeling distinct from TFT’s customary solo occasions like this weekend’s Set 11 championship.
“A serious purpose why gamers love TFT is novelty — there’s all the time one thing new within the sport. And so we additionally need our esports construction to fulfill that by having mixes of novelty all all year long, whether or not it’s 4v4 or Macau or new codecs all through the regional season,” mentioned Sherman.
Riot’s partnership with the EWC is one other evolution of the writer’s esports strategy. Earlier than the EWC and DreamHack Dallas, Riot sometimes operated its esports packages as a walled backyard for greater than a decade.
Wanting ahead, Riot is utilizing the expertise of experimenting with TFT to tell its 2XKO esports technique. “2XKO will want its personal very distinctive technique however it is vitally helpful as Riot begins to assume extra about these participation and community-focused occasions,” mentioned Sherman.
TFT Open Macau Occasion Data
The upcoming TFT Macau Open will happen from December 13 – 15.
Tickets
Ticket pre gross sales begin September 3, 2024 at at 5 AM PT / 8 AM ET / 2 PM CEST / 8PM GMT+8. Every participant’s aggressive efficiency in Season 12 — beginning July 31 and ending September 2 at 12:12am Server time — will decide after they should buy the Competitor’s Bundle and its value.
| Rank | Sale Date | Worth |
|---|---|---|
| Tactician’s Crown Members (Units September 11) | September 3 | $199* |
| Challengers | September 4 | $199* |
| Grandmasters + Masters | September 5 | $299* |
| Normal Competitor Passes | September 6 | $399 |
| Spectator Passes | September 6 | $150 |
Riot could have extra data on the place and learn how to purchase tickets nearer to the gross sales date. Along with securing a spot within the match, the Competitor Bundle’s additionally contains:
- Occasion themed bodily merch together with a participation medal and competitor jacket
- In-game pores and skin Chibi from Set 13
- Unique in-game emote primarily based on match placement
On the TFT Macau Open, Riot will host a wide range of facet occasions for rivals and spectators together with meet and greets, panels, cosplay and extra.
Seeding and Schedule
Riot will initially seed gamers into teams of eight primarily based on their Set 12, Magic n’ Mayhem rating. After the primary spherical, gamers shall be re-seeded through snake draft primarily based upon the factors they earn all through the match. Gamers will accumulate factors primarily based on their placement in every match, the place the primary place finisher will earn eight factors, and so forth.
Based mostly on suggestions from followers, Riot has up to date its TFT Open format with two extra rounds. This modification permits the highest 4 finishers in every foyer to advance, somewhat than the earlier high two.
| Date | Spherical | Gamers Remaining | Video games per Spherical |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 13 | Spherical 1 | 512 | 3 |
| December 13 | Spherical 2 | 256 | 3 |
| December 13 | Spherical 3 | 128 | 3 |
| December 14 | Spherical 4 | 64 | 3 |
| December 14 | Spherical 5 | 32 | 3 |
| December 14 | Spherical 6 | 16 | 4 |
| December 15 | Finals | 8 | – |
For the Finals, the highest 8 gamers will compete in a checkmate format. The primary participant to earn 20 factors and win a spherical will topped the TFT Macao Open Champion.
Event Prize Pool
Riot Video games is awarding a complete prize pool of $300,000 on the occasion. The highest 128 gamers will stroll away with their lower, with the champion pocketing $100,000.
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